UMass hockey happenings: Will students show for BC?

Will the Mullins Center student section look like this for Boston College Friday night, or will the students stay away?
photo by J. Anthony Roberts

If there is to be a miracle at the Mullins Center Friday night, the University of Massachusetts hockey team will need all the help it can get.

Because of Presidents Day, the students were away on the long weekend, and weren't on hand for the devastating Merrimack loss. They are on campus now, and it is a Friday night game. My experience is that they are more likely to show up on Friday than Saturday. Against BU, they came out in numbers and early on the night of the 1,000 free t-shirts, but there were hardly any for the Providence game on a Saturday.

So Friday night we'll get an idea of whether the UMass record, 5-13-5 in Hockey East, has left the students with a wait until next year feeling, or whether they have enough loyalty left to chance stopping by to root for an upset.

They're calling it Operation 8k, which is a real worn out theme. Given the circumstances, anything over 5,000 would be good.